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Halley's Comet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Halley's Comet or Comet Halley (/hli/ or /heli/),

officially designated 1P/Halley,[2] is a short-period
comet visible from Earth every 7576 years.[2][10]
Halley is the only known short-period comet that is
clearly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and the only
naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human
lifetime.[11] Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the
Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in
mid-2061.[12]
Halley's returns to the inner Solar System have been
observed and recorded by astronomers since at least 240
BC. Clear records of the comet's appearances were made
by Chinese, Babylonian, and medieval European
chroniclers, but were not recognized as reappearances of
the same object at the time. The comet's periodicity was
first determined in 1705 by English astronomer Edmond
Halley, after whom it is now named.
During its 1986 apparition, Halley's Comet became the
first comet to be observed in detail by spacecraft,
providing the first observational data on the structure of
a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail
formation.[13][14] These observations supported a
number of longstanding hypotheses about comet
construction, particularly Fred Whipple's "dirty
snowball" model, which correctly predicted that Halley
would be composed of a mixture of volatile ices such
as water, carbon dioxide, and ammonia and dust. The
missions also provided data that substantially reformed
and reconfigured these ideas; for instance, now it is
understood that the surface of Halley is largely
composed of dusty, non-volatile materials, and that only
a small portion of it is icy.

1P/Halley (Halley's Comet)

Halley's Comet on 8 March 1986

Discovery
Discovered by

Edmond Halley (recognition of

periodicity)
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 2449400.5
(17 February 1994)
Aphelion

35.1 AU
(9 December 2023)[1]

Perihelion

0.586 AU
last perihelion: 9 February
1986
next perihelion: 28 July
2061[1]

Semi-major axis

17.8 AU

Eccentricity

0.967

Orbital period

75.3 a[2]

Inclination

162.3

Contents

Physical characteristics
Dimensions

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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Pronunciation
Computation of orbit
Orbit and origin
Structure and composition
Apparitions
See also
References
Bibliography

Prehistoric observation;

158 km,[3] 11 km (mean

diameter)[2]

Mass

2.2 1014 kg[4]

Mean density

0.6[5] (estimates range from 0.2

to 1.5 g/cm3[6])

Escape velocity

~0.002 km/s

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9 External links

Pronunciation

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Halley's_Comet&printable=yes

Sidereal rotation
period

2.2 d (52.8 h) (?)[7]

Albedo

0.04[8]

Apparent
magnitude

28.2 (in 2003)[9]

Comet Halley is commonly pronounced /hli/, rhyming

with valley, or /heli/, rhyming with daily.[15][16]
Spellings of Edmond Halley's name during his lifetime included Hailey, Haley, Hayley, Halley, Hawley, and
Hawly, so its contemporary pronunciation is uncertain.[17]

Computation of orbit
Halley was the first comet to be recognized as periodic. Until the Renaissance, the philosophical consensus
on the nature of comets, promoted by Aristotle, was that they were disturbances in Earth's atmosphere. This
idea was disproved in 1577 by Tycho Brahe, who used parallax measurements to show that comets must lie
beyond the Moon. Many were still unconvinced that comets orbited the Sun, and assumed instead that they
must follow straight paths through the Solar System.[18]
In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton published his Principia, in which he outlined his laws of gravity and motion. His
work on comets was decidedly incomplete. Although he had suspected that two comets that had appeared in
succession in 1680 and 1681 were the same comet before and after passing behind the Sun (he was later
found to be correct; see Newton's Comet),[19] he was unable to completely reconcile comets into his model.
Ultimately, it was Newton's friend, editor and publisher, Edmond Halley, who, in his 1705 Synopsis of the
Astronomy of Comets, used Newton's new laws to calculate the gravitational effects of Jupiter and Saturn on
cometary orbits.[20] This calculation enabled him, after examining historical records, to determine that the
orbital elements of a second comet that had appeared in 1682 were nearly the same as those of two comets
that had appeared in 1531 (observed by Petrus Apianus) and 1607 (observed by Johannes Kepler).[20]
Halley thus concluded that all three comets were, in fact, the same object returning every 76 years, a period
that has since been amended to every 7576 years. After a rough estimate of the perturbations the comet
would sustain from the gravitational attraction of the planets, he predicted its return for 1758.[21]
Halley's prediction of the comet's return proved to be correct, although it was not seen until 25 December
1758, by Johann Georg Palitzsch, a German farmer and amateur astronomer. It did not pass through its
perihelion until 13 March 1759, the attraction of Jupiter and Saturn having caused a retardation of 618
days.[22] This effect was computed prior to its return (with a one-month error to 13 April)[23] by a team of
three French mathematicians, Alexis Clairaut, Joseph Lalande, and Nicole-Reine Lepaute.[24] Halley did not
live to see the comet return, as he died in 1742.[25] The confirmation of the comet's return was the first time
anything other than planets had been shown to orbit the Sun. It was also one of the earliest successful tests
of Newtonian physics, and a clear demonstration of its explanatory power.[26] The comet was first named in
Halley's honour by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1759.[26]
The possibility has been raised that first-century Jewish astronomers already had recognized Halley's Comet
as periodic.[27] This theory notes a passage in the Talmud[28] that refers to "a star which appears once in
seventy years that makes the captains of the ships err."[29]

Orbit and origin

Halley's orbital period over the last 3 centuries has been between 7576 years, although it has varied

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between 7479 years since 240 BC.[26][30] Its orbit around the Sun is highly
elliptical, with an orbital eccentricity of 0.967 (with 0 being a circle and 1 being a
parabolic trajectory). The perihelion, the point in the comet's orbit when it is
nearest the Sun, is just 0.6 AU.[31] This is between the orbits of Mercury and
Venus. Its aphelion, or farthest distance from the Sun, is 35 AU (roughly the
distance of Pluto). Unusual for an object in the Solar System, Halley's orbit is
retrograde; it orbits the Sun in the opposite direction to the planets, or, clockwise
from above the Sun's north pole. The orbit is inclined by 18 to the ecliptic, with
The orbital path of
much of it lying south of the ecliptic. (Because it is retrograde, the true inclination
Halley, outlined in
is 162).[32] Due to the retrograde orbit, it has one of the highest velocities relative
blue, against the orbits
to the Earth of any object in the Solar System. The 1910 passage was at a relative
of Jupiter, Saturn,
velocity of 70.56 km/s (157,838 mph or 254,016 km/h).[33] Because its orbit
Uranus and Neptune,
comes close to Earth's in two places, Halley is the parent body of two meteor
outlined in red.
showers: the Eta Aquariids in early May, and the Orionids in late October.[34]
Observations conducted around the time of Halley's appearance in 1986, however,
suggest that the Eta Aquarid meteor shower might not originate from Halley's Comet, although it might be
perturbed by it.[35]
Halley is classified as a periodic or short-period comet; one with an
orbit lasting 200 years or less.[36] This contrasts it with long-period
comets, whose orbits last for thousands of years. Periodic comets
have an average inclination to the ecliptic of only ten degrees, and
an orbital period of just 6.5 years, so Halley's orbit is atypical.[26]
Most short-period comets (those with orbital periods shorter than 20
years and inclinations of 2030 degrees or less) are called Jupiterfamily comets. Those resembling Halley, with orbital periods of
between 20 and 200 years and inclinations extending from zero to
more than 90 degrees, are called Halley-type comets.[36][37] As of
2015, only 75 Halley-type comets have been observed, compared
with 511 identified Jupiter family comets.[38]

Orionid meteor originating from

Halley's Comet striking the sky below
the Milky Way and to the right of
Venus.

The orbits of the Halley-type comets suggest that they were

originally long-period comets whose orbits were perturbed by the gravity of the giant planets and directed
into the inner Solar System.[36] If Halley was once a long-period comet, it is likely to have originated in the
Oort Cloud,[37] a sphere of cometary bodies that has an inner edge of 20,00050,000 AU. Conversely the
Jupiter-family comets are generally believed to originate in the Kuiper belt,[37] a flat disc of icy debris
between 30 AU (Neptune's orbit) and 50 AU from the Sun (in the scattered disc). Another point of origin for
the Halley-type comets was proposed in 2008, when a trans-Neptunian object with a retrograde orbit similar
to Halley's was discovered, 2008 KV42, whose orbit takes it from just outside that of Uranus to twice the
distance of Pluto. It may be a member of a new population of small Solar System bodies that serves as the
source of Halley-type comets.[39]
Halley has probably been in its current orbit for 16,000200,000 years, although it is not possible to
numerically integrate its orbit for more than a few tens of apparitions, and close approaches before 837 AD
can only be verified from recorded observations.[40] The non-gravitational effects can be crucial;[40] as
Halley approaches the Sun, it expels jets of sublimating gas from its surface, which knock it very slightly off
its orbital path. These orbital changes cause delays in its perihelion of four days, average.[41]
In 1989, Boris Chirikov and Vitaly Vecheslavov performed an analysis of 46 apparitions of Halley's Comet
taken from historical records and computer simulations. These studies showed that its dynamics were
chaotic and unpredictable on long timescales.[42] Halley's projected lifetime could be as long as 10 million

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years. More recent work suggests that Halley will evaporate, or split in two, within the next few tens of
thousands of years, or will be ejected from the Solar System within a few hundred thousand years.[37]
Observations by D.W. Hughes suggest that Halley's nucleus has been reduced in mass by 8090% over the
last 20003000 revolutions.[14]

Structure and composition

The Giotto and Vega missions gave planetary scientists their first
view of Halley's surface and structure. Like all comets, as Halley
nears the Sun, its volatile compounds (those with low boiling points,
such as water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other ices)
begin to sublime from the surface of its nucleus.[43] This causes the
comet to develop a coma, or atmosphere, up to 100,000 km across.[3]
Evaporation of this dirty ice releases dust particles, which travel
with the gas away from the nucleus. Gas molecules in the coma
absorb solar light and then re-radiate it at different wavelengths, a
phenomenon known as fluorescence, whereas dust particles scatter
the solar light. Both processes are responsible for making the coma
visible.[11] As a fraction of the gas molecules in the coma are ionized
by the solar ultraviolet radiation,[11] pressure from the solar wind, a
stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, pulls the coma's ions
out into a long tail, which may extend more than
100 million kilometers into space.[43][44] Changes in the flow of the
solar wind can cause disconnection events, in which the tail
completely breaks off from the nucleus.[13]

The nucleus of Halley's Comet,

imaged by the Giotto probe in 1986.
The dark coloration of the nucleus
can be observed, as well as the jets of
dust and gas erupting from its
surface.

Despite the vast size of its coma, Halley's nucleus is relatively small:
barely 15 kilometers long, 8 kilometers wide and perhaps 8 kilometers thick.[b] Its shape vaguely resembles
that of a peanut.[3] Its mass is relatively low (roughly 2.2 1014 kg)[4] and its average density is about
0.6 g/cm3, indicating that it is made of a large number of small pieces, held together very loosely, forming a
structure known as a rubble pile.[5] Ground-based observations of coma brightness suggested that Halley's
rotation period was about 7.4 days. Images taken by the various spacecraft, along with observations of the
jets and shell, suggested a period of 52 hours.[14] Given the irregular shape of the nucleus, Halley's rotation
is likely to be complex.[43] Although only 25% of Halley's surface was imaged in detail during the flyby
missions, the images revealed an extremely varied topography, with hills, mountains, ridges, depressions,
and at least one crater.[14]
Halley is the most active of all the periodic comets, with others, such as Comet Encke and Comet Holmes,
being one or two orders of magnitude less active.[14] Its day side (the side facing the Sun) is far more active
than the night side. Spacecraft observations showed that the gases ejected from the nucleus were 80% water
vapor, 17% carbon monoxide and 34% carbon dioxide,[45] with traces of hydrocarbons[46] although
more-recent sources give a value of 10% for carbon monoxide and also include traces of methane and
ammonia.[47] The dust particles were found to be primarily a mixture of carbonhydrogenoxygennitrogen
(CHON) compounds common in the outer Solar System, and silicates, such as are found in terrestrial
rocks.[43] The dust particles decreased in size down to the limits of detection (~0.001 m).[13] The ratio of
deuterium to hydrogen in the water released by Halley was initially thought to be similar to that found in
Earth's ocean water, suggesting that Halley-type comets may have delivered water to Earth in the distant
past. Subsequent observations showed Halley's deuterium ratio to be far higher than that in found in Earth's
oceans, making such comets unlikely sources for Earth's water.[43]

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Giotto provided the first evidence in support of Fred Whipple's "dirty snowball" hypothesis for comet
construction; Whipple postulated that comets are icy objects warmed by the Sun as they approach the inner
Solar System, causing ices on their surfaces to sublimate (change directly from a solid to a gas), and jets of
volatile material to burst outward, creating the coma. Giotto showed that this model was broadly correct,[43]
though with modifications. Halley's albedo, for instance, is about 4%, meaning that it reflects only 4% of the
sunlight hitting it; about what one would expect for coal.[48] Thus, despite appearing brilliant white to
observers on Earth, Halley's Comet is in fact pitch black. The surface temperature of evaporating "dirty ice"
ranges from 170 K (103 C) at higher albedo to 220 K (53 C) at low albedo; Vega 1 found Halley's
surface temperature to be in the range 300400 K (30130 C). This suggested that only 10% of Halley's
surface was active, and that large portions of it were coated in a layer of dark dust that retained heat.[13]
Together, these observations suggested that Halley was in fact predominantly composed of non-volatile
materials, and thus more closely resembled a "snowy dirtball" than a "dirty snowball".[14][49]

Apparitions
Halley's calculations enabled the comet's earlier appearances to be found in the historical record. The
following table sets out the astronomical designations for every apparition of Halley's Comet from 240 BC,
the earliest documented widespread sighting.[2][50] For example, "1P/1982 U1, 1986 III, 1982i" indicates
that for the perihelion in 1986, Halley was the first period comet known (designated 1P) and this apparition
was the first seen in half-month U (the second half of October)[51] in 1982 (giving 1P/1982 U1); it was the
third comet past perihelion in 1986 (1986 III); and it was the ninth comet spotted in 1982 (provisional
designation 1982i). The perihelion dates of each apparition are shown.[52] The perihelion dates farther from
the present are approximate, mainly because of uncertainties in the modelling of non-gravitational effects.
Perihelion dates of 1531 and earlier are in the Julian calendar, while perihelion dates 1607 and after are in
the Gregorian calendar.[53]
1P/239 K1, 239 (25 May 240 BC)
1P/163 U1, 163 (12 November 164
BC)
1P/86 Q1, 86 (6 August 87 BC)
1P/11 Q1, 11 (10 October 12 BC)
1P/66 B1, 66 (25 January 66 AD)
1P/141 F1, 141 (22 March 141)
1P/218 H1, 218 (17 May 218)
1P/295 J1, 295 (20 April 295)
1P/374 E1, 374 (16 February 374)
1P/451 L1, 451 (28 June 451)
1P/530 Q1, 530 (27 September 530)
1P/607 H1, 607 (15 March 607)
1P/684 R1, 684 (2 October 684)
1P/760 K1, 760 (20 May 760)
1P/837 F1, 837 (28 February 837)
1P/912 J1, 912 (18 July 912)

1P/989 N1, 989 (5 September 989)

1P/1066 G1, 1066 (20 March 1066)
1P/1145 G1, 1145 (18 April 1145)
1P/1222 R1, 1222 (28 September 1222)
1P/1301 R1, 1301 (25 October 1301)
1P/1378 S1, 1378 (10 November 1378)
1P/1456 K1, 1456 (9 June 1456)
1P/1531 P1, 1531 (26 August 1531)
1P/1607 S1, 1607 (27 October 1607)
1P/1682 Q1, 1682 (15 September 1682)
1P/1758 Y1, 1759 I (13 March 1759, predicted by
Halley)
1P/1835 P1, 1835 III (16 November 1835)
1P/1909 R1, 1910 II, 1909c (20 April 1910)
1P/1982 U1, 1986 III, 1982i (9 February 1986)
Next perihelion predicted 28 July 2061

Prior to 1066
Halley may have been recorded as early as 467 BC, but this is uncertain. A comet was recorded in ancient
Greece between 468 and 466 BC; its timing, location, duration, and associated meteor shower all suggest it
was Halley.[54] According to Pliny the Elder, that same year a meteorite fell in the town of Aegospotami, in
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Thrace. He described it as brown in colour and the size of a wagon

load.[55] Chinese chroniclers also mention a comet in that year.[56]
The first certain appearance
of Halley's Comet in the
historical record is a
description from 240 BC, in
the Chinese chronicle
Records of the Grand
Historian or Shiji, which
describes a comet that
appeared in the east and
Report of Halley's Comet by Chinese
moved north.[57] The only
astronomers in 240 BC (Shiji)
surviving record of the
164 BC apparition is found
on two fragmentary Babylonian tablets, now owned by the British
Museum.[57]
The apparition of 87 BC was recorded in Babylonian tablets which
state that the comet was seen "day beyond day" for a month.[58] This
appearance may be recalled in the representation of Tigranes the
Great, an Armenian king who is depicted on coins with a crown that
features, according to Vahe Gurzadyan and R. Vardanyan, "a star
with a curved tail [that] may represent the passage of Halley's Comet
in 87 BC." Gurzadyan and Vardanyan argue that "Tigranes could
have seen Halley's Comet when it passed closest to the Sun on
August 6 in 87 BC" as the comet would have been a "most
recordable event"; for ancient Armenians it could have heralded the
New Era of the brilliant King of Kings.[59]

Observation of Halley's Comet,

recorded in cuneiform on a clay tablet
between 22 and 28 September 164
BC, Babylon, Iraq. British Museum
(BM 41462
(http://www.britishmuseum.org
/research/collection_online
/collection_object_details.aspx?object
Id=327183&partId=1))

The apparition of 12 BC was recorded in the Book of Han by Chinese astronomers of the Han Dynasty who
tracked it from August through October.[10] It passed within 0.16 AU of Earth.[60] Halley's appearance in
12 BC, only a few years distant from the conventionally assigned date of the birth of Jesus Christ, has led
some theologians and astronomers to suggest that it might explain the biblical story of the Star of
Bethlehem. There are other explanations for the phenomenon, such as planetary conjunctions, and there are
also records of other comets that appeared closer to the date of Jesus' birth.[61]
If, as has been suggested, the reference in the Talmud to "a star which appears once in seventy years that
makes the captains of the ships err"[62] (see above) refers to Halley's Comet, it may be a reference to the
66 AD appearance, because this passage is attributed to the Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah. This apparition
was the only one to occur during ben Hananiah's lifetime.[63]
The 141 AD apparition was recorded in Chinese chronicles.[64] It was also recorded in the Tamil work
Purananuru, in connection with the death of a south Indian king.[65]
The 374 AD and 607 approaches each came within 0.09 AU of Earth.[60] The 684 AD apparition was
recorded in Europe in one of the sources used by the compiler of the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicles. Chinese
records also report it as the "broom star".[66]
In 837, Halley's Comet may have passed as close as 0.03 AU (3.2 million miles; 5.1 million kilometers)
from Earth, by far its closest approach.[60] Its tail may have stretched 60 degrees across the sky. It was
recorded by astronomers in China, Japan, Germany, The Byzantine Empire, and the Middle East.[10] In 912,

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Halley is recorded in the Annals of Ulster, which state "A dark and rainy year. A comet appeared."[67]

1066
In 1066, the comet was seen in England and thought to be an omen:
later that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings; it
was a bad omen for Harold, but a good omen for the man who
defeated him, William the Conqueror. The comet is represented on
the Bayeux Tapestry as a fiery star, and the surviving accounts
describe it as appearing to be four times the size of Venus and
shining with a light equal to a quarter of that of the Moon. Halley
came within 0.10 AU of Earth at that time.[60]
This appearance of the comet is also noted in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle. Eilmer of Malmesbury may have seen Halley previously
in 989, as he wrote of it in 1066: "You've come, have you? ... You've
come, you source of tears to many mothers, you evil. I hate you! It is
long since I saw you; but as I see you now you are much more
terrible, for I see you brandishing the downfall of my country. I hate
you!"[68]

The comet's appearance in 1066 was

recorded on the Bayeux Tapestry.

The Irish Annals of the Four Masters recorded the comet as "A star [that] appeared on the seventh of the
Calends of May, on Tuesday after Little Easter, than whose light the brilliance or light of The Moon was not
greater; and it was visible to all in this manner till the end of four nights afterwards."[67] Chaco Native
Americans in New Mexico may have recorded the 1066 apparition in their petroglyphs.[69]

11451378
The 1145 apparition was recorded by the monk Eadwine. The 1986
apparition exhibited a fan tail similar to Eadwine's drawing.[66]
Some claim that Genghis Khan was inspired to turn his conquests
toward Europe by the 1222 apparition.[70] The 1301 apparition may
have been seen by the artist Giotto di Bondone, who represented the
Star of Bethlehem as a fire-colored comet in the Nativity section of
his Arena Chapel cycle, completed in 1305.[66] No record survives
of the 1378 apparition.

1456
In 1456, the year of Halley's next apparition, the Ottoman Empire
invaded the Kingdom of Hungary, culminating in the Siege of
Belgrade in July of that year. In a Papal Bull, Pope Calixtus III
ordered special prayers be said for the city's protection. In 1470, the
humanist scholar Bartolomeo Platina wrote in his Lives of the Popes
that,[71]

The Adoration of the Magi (circa

1305) by Giotto, who purportedly
modeled the star of Bethlehem on
Halley, which had been sighted 4
years prior to this painting.

A hairy and fiery star having then made its appearance

for several days, the mathematicians declared that there
would follow grievous pestilence, dearth and some great
calamity. Calixtus, to avert the wrath of God, ordered
supplications that if evils were impending for the human

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race He would turn all upon the Turks, the

enemies of the Christian name. He likewise
ordered, to move God by continual entreaty,
that notice should be given by the bells to
call the faithful at midday to aid by their
prayers those engaged in battle with the
Turk.

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1456 comet in Zodiac

Platina's account is not mentioned in official records. In the 18th century, a Frenchman further embellished
the story, in anger at the Church, by claiming that the Pope had "excommunicated" the comet, though this
story was most likely his own invention.[72]
Halley's apparition of 1456 was also witnessed in Kashmir and depicted in great detail by rvara, a Sanskrit
poet and biographer to the Sultans of Kashmir. He read the apparition as a cometary portent of doom
foreshadowing the imminent fall of Sultan Zayn al-Abidin (AD 1418/14201470).[73]
After witnessing a bright light in the sky (which most historians have identified as Halley's Comet, visible in
Ethiopia in 1456), Emperor Zara Yaqob, ruler from 1434 to 1468, founded the city of Debre Berhan (tr. City
of Light) and made it his capital for the remainder of his reign.[74]

15311835
Halley's periodic returns have been subject to scientific investigation since the 16th century. The three
apparitions from 1531 to 1682 were noted by Edmond Halley, enabling him to predict its 1759 return.
Streams of vapour observed during the comet's 1835 apparition prompted astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm
Bessel to propose that the jet forces of evaporating material could be great enough to significantly alter a
comet's orbit.[75]
1531

1682

1759

1835

1910
The 1910 approach, which came into naked-eye view around 10 April[60] and came to perihelion on 20
April,[60] was notable for several reasons: it was the first approach of which photographs exist, and the first
for which spectroscopic data were obtained.[13] Furthermore, the comet made a relatively close approach of
0.15 AU,[60] making it a spectacular sight. Indeed, on 19 May, Earth actually passed through the tail of the
comet.[76][77] One of the substances discovered in the tail by spectroscopic analysis was the toxic gas
cyanogen,[78] which led astronomer Camille Flammarion to claim that, when Earth passed through the tail,
the gas "would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet."[79] His
pronouncement led to panicked buying of gas masks and quack "anti-comet pills" and "anti-comet
umbrellas" by the public.[80] In reality, as other astronomers were quick to point out, the gas is so diffuse

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that the world suffered no ill effects from the passage through the
tail.[79]
The comet added to the unrest in China on the eve of Xinhai
Revolution that would end the last dynasty in 1911. As James
Hutson, a missionary in Sichuan Province at the time, recorded,
The people believe that it indicates calamity such as
war, fire, pestilence, and a change of dynasty. In some
places on certain days the doors were unopened for half
a day, no water was carried and many did not even drink
water as it was rumoured that pestilential vapour was
being poured down upon the earth from the comet."[81]

A photograph of Halley's Comet

taken during its 1910 approach

The comet was also fertile ground for hoaxes. One that reached major newspapers claimed that the Sacred
Followers, a supposed Oklahoma religious group, attempted to sacrifice a virgin to ward off the impending
disaster, but were stopped by the police.[82]
American satirist and writer Mark Twain was born on 30 November 1835, exactly two weeks after the
comet's perihelion. In his autobiography, published in 1909, he said,
I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with
it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's comet. The
Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in
together, they must go out together.'[83][84]
Twain died on 21 April 1910, the day following the comet's subsequent perihelion.[85] The 1985 fantasy
film The Adventures of Mark Twain was inspired by the quotation.
Halley's 1910 apparition is distinct from the Great Daylight Comet of 1910, which surpassed Halley in
brilliance and was actually visible in broad daylight for a short period, approximately four months before
Halley made its appearance.[86][87]

1986
Halley's 1986 apparition was the least favorable on record. The
comet and Earth were on opposite sides of the Sun in February 1986,
creating the worst viewing circumstances for Earth observers for the
last 2,000 years.[88] Halley's closest approach was 0.42 AU.[89]
Additionally, with increased light pollution from urbanization, many
people failed to even see the comet. It was possible to observe it in
areas outside of cities with the help of binoculars.[90] Further, the
comet appeared brightest when it was almost invisible from the
northern hemisphere in March and April.[91] Halley's approach was
first detected by astronomers David Jewitt and G. Edward Danielson
Halley's Comet in 1986
on 16 October 1982 using the 5.1 m Hale telescope at Mount
Palomar and a CCD camera.[92] The first person to visually observe
the comet on its 1986 return was amateur astronomer Stephen James O'Meara on 24 January 1985. O'Meara
used a home-built 24-inch telescope on top of Mauna Kea to detect the magnitude 19.6 comet.[93] On 8

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November 1985, Stephen Edberg (then serving as the Coordinator

for Amateur Observations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and
Charles Morris were the first to observe Halley's Comet with the
naked eye in its 1986 apparition.[94][95]
The development of space travel gave scientists the opportunity to
study the comet at close quarters, and several probes were launched
to do so. The Soviet Vega 1 started returning images of Halley on 4
March 1986, and the first ever of its nucleus,[14] and made its flyby
on 6 March, followed by Vega 2 making its flyby on 9 March. On 14
March, the Giotto space probe, launched by the European Space
Agency, made the closest pass of the comet's nucleus.[14] There were
also two Japanese probes, Suisei and Sakigake. The probes were
unofficially known as the Halley Armada.[96]
Based on data retrieved by Astron, the largest ultraviolet space
telescope of the time, during its Halley's Comet observations in
December 1985, a group of Soviet scientists developed a model of
the comet's coma.[97] The comet was also observed from space by
the International Cometary Explorer. Originally International
Sun-Earth Explorer 3, the probe was renamed and freed from its L1

1986 USSR miniature sheet, featuring

Edmond Halley, Comet Halley, Vega
1, Vega 2, Giotto, Suisei (Planet-A)

Lagrangian point location in Earth's orbit to intercept comets 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and Halley.[98]
Two Space Shuttle missions the ill-fated STS-51-L (ended by the Challenger disaster)[99] and STS-61-E
were scheduled to observe Halley's Comet from low Earth orbit. STS-51-L carried the Shuttle-Pointed Tool
for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203) satellite, also called the Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable
(HCED).[100] STS-61-E was a Columbia mission scheduled for March 1986, carrying the ASTRO-1
platform to study the comet.[101] Due to the suspension of America's manned space program after the
Challenger explosion, the mission was canceled, and ASTRO-1 would not fly until late 1990 on
STS-35.[102]

After 1986
On 12 February 1991, at a distance of 14.4 AU (2.15 109 km) from
the Sun, Halley displayed an outburst that lasted for several months,
releasing a cloud of dust 300,000 km across.[43] The outburst likely
started in December 1990, and then the comet brightened from
magnitude 24.3 to magnitude 18.9.[103] Halley was most recently
observed in 2003 by three of the Very Large Telescopes at Paranal,
Chile, when Halley's magnitude was 28.2. The telescopes observed
Halley, at the faintest and farthest any comet has ever been imaged,
in order to verify a method for finding very faint trans-Neptunian
objects.[9] Astronomers are now able to observe the comet at any
point in its orbit.[9]

Halley's Comet observed in 2003 at

28 AU from the Sun

The next predicted perihelion of Halley's Comet is 28 July 2061,[1] when it is expected to be better
positioned for observation than during the 19851986 apparition, as it will be on the same side of the Sun as
Earth.[30] It is expected to have an apparent magnitude of 0.3, compared with only +2.1 for the 1986
apparition.[104] It has been calculated that on 9 September 2060, Halley will pass within 0.98 AU
(147,000,000 km) of Jupiter, and then on 20 August 2061 will pass within 0.0543 AU (8,120,000 km) of

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Venus.[105] In 2134, Halley is expected to pass within 0.09 AU (13,000,000 km) of Earth.[105] Its apparent
magnitude is expected to be 2.0.[104]

See also
List of Halley-type comets

References
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Bibliography
Gore, Rick (December 1986). "Halley's Comet '86". National Geographic. Vol. 170 no. 6.
pp. 758785. ISSN 0027-9358. OCLC 643483454.
P. Lancaster-Brown (1985). Halley & His Comet. Blandford Press. ISBN 0-7137-1447-6.
C. Sagan and A. Druyan (1985). Comet. Random House. ISBN 0-394-54908-2.

External links
Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets
Wikimedia Commons has
(https://books.google.com/books?id=bKAwAAAAYAAJ&
media related to Comet
pg=PA321) (1706 reprint of Halley's 1705 paper)
Halley.
Halley's nucleus by Giotto spacecraft (ESA link)
(http://www.esa.int/images/giotto_3_l.jpg)
Image of Halley in 1986 by Giotto spacecraft (NASA link) (http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia
/display.cfm?IM_ID=11423)
cometography.com (http://cometography.com/pcomets/001p.html)
1P/Halley at CometBase database (http://cometbase.net/en/observation/listObserv/246)
seds.org (http://spider.seds.org/spider/Comets/halley.html)
Orbital simulation (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1P;orb=1;view=Far) from JPL (Java) /
Ephemeris (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&body_group=sb&sstr=1P)
Donald Yeomans, "Great Comets in History" (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?great_comets)
A brief history of Halley's Comet (http://www.ianridpath.com/halley/halley1.htm) (Ian Ridpath)
Photographs of 1910 approach taken from the Lick Observatory from the Lick Observatory Records
Digital Archive, UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections (http://digitalcollections.ucsc.edu
/cdm/search/collection/p265101coll10/searchterm/Halley's%20Comet/order/title)
Periodic comets (by number)
Previous
(periodic comet navigator)

1P/Halley

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